Transmission Swap in 1993 Legacy AWD Wagon

litespeedman

I have found a parts car with a good 5 speed and would like to replace auto trans in my '93 legacy wagon AWD. The parts car is also a '93, but is only a FWD. Will the FWD 5 speed work in the AWD automatic car?

paisan

Well a few things.

Going from AT to MT requires a bit of work, like a different cross member, rear driveshaft, pedal boxes, master and slave cylinders for the trans if it's hydrolic, shifting mechanisms and mountings.

As for going from AWD to FWD, that's not viable at all since your rear diffy etc can't hookup to a FWD trans.

So to sum it up, nope it won't work for you at all.

-mike

litespeedman

Thanks for the information - I was afraid of that!

I figured I would have all the right parts to swap from Auto to Manual if I had a complete doner car, but if the FWD trans won't work with my AWD, that makes the decision. My trans is fine for now, so I will just keep looking for a more suitable doner. I don't need to swap until it goes bad anyway.

paisan

Yeah if you get an AWD donor car you can get all the parts you need off it. That's what I would do. You will also need the rear differential because the AT rear is a different ratio than the MT rear diffy.

So in effect you need the trans w/front diffy, the trans mounts, the pedal boxes, the shifter and linkage and associated brackets, the drive shafts, and the rear diffy from the MT. You will also need the cable setup for the clutch or the master/slaves setups from the MT car as well.

-mike